𝐃𝐄𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐘 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒 | 𝐁𝐗𝐁

ＴＷＥＮＴＹ ＦＩＶＥ

We raced back home, jumped in Matt's car, and tracked Sam's location on my phone. When we found her at a seedy burger joint, I was pretty sure she used the last five in her pocket to buy a milkshake.

I think Sam must have thought I was coming to pick her up alone. When she saw the tall man next to me, her face suddenly changed. I was angry at her, I definitely was, but not before I gave her a big hug for moving so confidently. When Sam dropped me off, I introduced her to Matt and sat across from her. Matt was right next to me. Sam looked at us both strangely, "I didn't mean to distract you from your match, but..."

"But you did it!" I couldn't control my anger at that moment, "I don't want to yell at you, Sam, but what you did was very dangerous! Why did you run away from home?"

"Because I've been interested in painting for a while." Taking a large sip of her milkshake, she continued in a shallow voice, "I also hate my mother and stepfather."

"Every teenager your age does this," I jumped in, "You're putting yourself at risk. Is hating your parents worth risking your life?"

"It's so easy for you to say!" Sam stood firm enough to make everyone in the diner look at our table, "You got yourself out of that hell and you're hanging out with the hot basketball players. But when you left me in that little town, you didn't even look back. What would you want me to do? There's nothing there. If I had stayed one more day, I would have lost my mind."

"Relax," Matt leaned back slightly as he opened his mouth for the first time, "Your brother and I talked about this a little bit, saying that if you want to live in New York, you need to get yourself a job. You can enroll in college in the meantime, but you'll need a place to stay. What do you think about living with us?"

Sam's eyes were brighter than the night lights of all of New York, "Really? Will you welcome me into your home?"

I growled and put my hand on her arm to stop her from jumping, "It's basically Matt's house, Sam, his parents pay the rent. Matt is hosting you at his house, but I have one condition."

My sassy sister jumped in, shaking her hair dyed red in a different way than the last time I saw her, "I'll do whatever you want, Ben."

"You can't get into trouble while you're living with us. You can't date boys, you're still too young. However, you will take responsibility and call my mom and explain logically what happened to for dragging your ass all the way out of the house. I'm sure she and Glenn are worried you're dead."

"Glenn would be so happy if I was dead!" Referring to my stepfather, she grinned, took a sip from the milkshake on the table, and slurped the straw with a terrible sound, "He could have fucked my mom easier."

"Sam!" I was too busy yelling at her and the dialogue made Matt laugh awkwardly. We all got up from there and brought Sam home. 

I was unaware of what her arrival would bring.

***

The first week Sam came to live with us I had a bad cold. The coach didn't kick Matt and I off the team, but we were both suspended for a short period of time, but we didn't mind it too much. At least I didn't care. 

Sam got a job at the little café in the back alley of our house, and since she had completed her high school education, she had plenty of time to prepare for her university exams. She stayed home during off-shift hours and did things like clean up and focus on her own art work when Matt and I went to class. At first everything was normal.

"Is this a portrait of a woman?" As I entered the kitchen to make myself some hot soup with a napkin stuffed up my nose, I called out to my sister, who had placed a large canvas on the table.